Romeo and Juliet – from Act 2 Scene 5, lines 35 to 64
In this extract, Juliet and the Nurse are talking about Romeo.
JULIET
Is thy news good or bad? Answer to that. 35
Say either, and I’ll stay the circumstance.
Let me be satisfied: is’t good or bad?
NURSE
Well, you have made a simple choice – you know not
how to choose a man. Romeo? No, not he. Though
his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all 40
men’s – and for a hand and a foot and a body, though
they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare.
He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I’ll warrant him,
as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench: serve God.
What, have you dined at home? 45
JULIET
No, no! But all this did I know before!
What says he of our marriage? What of that?
NURSE
Lord, how my head aches! What a head have I!
It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back a’ t’other side – ah, my back, my back! 50
Beshrew your heart for sending me about
To catch my death with jauncing up and down!
JULIET
I’ faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.
Sweet, sweet, sweet Nurse, tell me – what says my love?
NURSE
Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and a 55
courteous, and a kind, and a handsome, and, I warrant,
a virtuous – Where is your mother?
JULIET
Where is my mother? Why, she is within.
Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest!
– ’Your love says, like an honest gentleman, 60
”Where is your mother?”’
NURSE
O God’s lady dear!
Are you so hot? Marry, come up, I trow!
Is this the poultice for my aching bones?
Henceforth do your messages yourself.

In this extract, the Nurse and Juliet demonstrate a close relationship.
Explain the importance of close relationships elsewhere in the play.
In your answer, you must consider:

• how close relationships are presented
• the effects close relationships have within the play.
  You must refer to the context of the play in your answer.

In Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet,” close relationships play a pivotal role in driving the plot and shaping the characters’ actions and emotions. The extract from Act 2 Scene 5, where Juliet and the Nurse discuss Romeo, highlights the intimate bond between them and reveals the Nurse’s role as Juliet’s confidante. Throughout the play, close relationships are presented as both comforting and complicating, with significant effects on the characters and the overall story.

One of the ways close relationships are presented in the play is through the language used by the characters. In the extract, Juliet and the Nurse engage in playful banter, with the Nurse teasing Juliet about Romeo’s physical attributes and character. The use of familiar terms like “wench” and “sweet Nurse” demonstrates their close relationship, and the Nurse’s colloquial speech adds to the sense of intimacy between them.